Justin Sykes, Melissa Agostino and Amanda Agostino beat the other contestants to make it to the final round. Sykes won the battle of knowing Melissa better by answering more questions right.

Hosts Brandy Frazier and Jennifer Green keep the game show moving. Four groups of three competed in the event that matches a boyfriend or a girlfriend against a best friend to see who knows who better.

“It was the nostalgia behind it,” the professor explained. Comic books, like any other genre, had their years of peak popularity. There are two eras, the Golden and Silver ages. The Golden Age of comic books went from 1940-1948, while the Silver Age was from 1958-1965. A few years before the Golden Age began the superheros and Superman was one of those.

“I started collecting 'Superman' because it was the main thing around,” said Lang. The goal of comic books then was entertainment. They tended to be drawn well. Comic books are still around, but not as popular as they were. “Comic books today are too violent,” said Lang. “They tend to be over-exaggerated drawings and unoriginal.”

To obtain comic books from those earlier eras, collectors go to comic book conventions. The conventions are held nationwide. According to Lang, one of the bigger conventions is held in San Diego. “I used to go to one in San Diego about once a year, and that typically was big,” he said. “Nowadays you can find those comic books on the Internet sites, like e-Bay.” Although Lang likes collecting comic books, he did not have an inclination to draw comic books as a profession.
Instead he is a math professor because, as he put it, “It was challenging, and I have no artistic talent anyway."

Lanes, balls and pins were only some of the many accessories which turned the Jane P. Batten Center into a bowling extravaganza. Wednesday through Sunday of Spring Break, 32 professional bowlers competed in an event that sparked great publicity for Wesleyan.

The Battle at Little Creek is a professional bowling tournament sponsored by the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Normally the event is held on the military base, but due to heightened security measures it had to relocate. That is when Gary Beck of Killer "B" Promotions, the original creator of this event, was made aware of the new facility on Wesleyan’s campus. Beck and his wife, Pamela, are partners in the promotion business and were notified of the Batten Center as a possible option by Virginian-Pilot Sports Editor Chic Riebel. “The facility is just ideal for the event,” said Beck.
Immediately interested, Beck proceeded to contact activities coordinator Lina Cottingham to set up a meeting to discuss the possibility.

“ I thought it was a great idea," Cottingham said. "We have a great facility, and it would provide a lot of publicity for the college as well as revenue.” The last step was a meeting with President Greer for the final word. When first approached with the idea, Greer had some conflicting emotions.

“I saw it as a good opportunity, but had some reservations,” he said. “First, the facility is for students, faculty, and staff, and I did not want to take away from that. On the other hand, I was concerned with the well-being of the facility, but they assured us it would be handled professionally.”

After making the final agreement, everything was in order to transform the Convocation Center into a bowler’s dream. The hardwood floors were covered with tarps as well as plywood. General admission bleacher seating surrounded four lanes of bowling, and the running track was morphed into a luxury skybox. Parker Bohn III, tournament champion and winner of $40,000, commented, “You have bowling at its best here at Wesleyan.”

His wife, Leslie, added, “This is the first opportunity to be in an arena setting. It puts the players on a different level. When the tournament was held at the bowling alleys, it wasn’t the same, because anybody can bowl on those lanes at anytime. This set-up was different; it put the pros on a higher echelon.” Participants and their families stayed at various hotels by the oceanfront. Not only did this event produce revenue for the college, but local hotel industries and food businesses benefited as well.
The actual competition got underway on Wednesday and bowlers were eliminated in a single elimination tournament.

Tommy Delutz Jr., ranked 7th coming into the tournament but lost his first match. When asked what he planned to do, he said, “Now it’s time to party!” Delutz stayed in town through Sunday for the finals, which were broadcast live by ESPN. Some Wesleyan students who remained on campus during the break were able to watch the televised event on Sunday.

“I thought it was good publicity for the school,” said sophomore John Snevely. “Both our college name and facility were televised on ESPN, and that was cool.” The finals on Sunday proved to be the big money maker, as it attracted the most people. Tickets for Sunday began at $10 for general admission and could cost as much as $35 for the luxury skybox seating. All proceeds from the ticket sales went to Killer "B" Promotions. Unfortunately according to Beck, they suffered a loss this year. The main reason was because they moved to a new host site.“We still had people showing up to the military base asking where all the bowling was!” said Beck. Beck is optimistic for the future. He hopes to return to Wesleyan again and possibly establish the tournament’s home here. “We would only want to come back if the student body is here,” said Beck. “We want to get students involved and possibly have them help with the promoting of the event.”

“I would like to see them come back when all the students are here so they can enjoy it as much as I did,” said freshman Chris Hall, who stayed on campus due to lacrosse. Wesleyan reaped many benefits from sponsoring such an event. Killer "B" Promotions donated $10,000 to the school’s scholarship fund and had to pay approximately $300 per day as a rental fee. The money, donated to the general scholarship fund, will be available next year for students who are eligible to receive scholarships from the college.

In regard to hosting the event again, Greer said, “I think we will have to cross that bridge when we get to it. If it is going to benefit our students we will have to take a long, hard look at it.” Wesleyan was very fortunate with the positive outcomes of sponsoring such an event. “It has helped us financially,” said Greer. “I can’t see a downside to it right now.”